SALT LAKE CITY - If USC coach Lane Kiffin was correct and Utah considered Thursday night's game its "Super Bowl," it might be time to figure out what contest would be of similar importance to the Trojans.

It certainly is not anything on display through five games because the No. 13-ranked Trojans struggled again with an inferior opponent before defeating the Utes, 38-28, before 46,037 at Rice-Eccles Stadium, the fourth-largest crowd in school history.

If USC sought to rehabilitate its image before a national midweek audience with limited viewing options, it probably did little to satisfy its critics. The Trojans were down two touchdowns less than three minutes into the game against a team coming off a 30-point loss to Arizona State.

"It was kind of a low point and not how we wanted to start," USC quarterback Matt Barkley said. "Our guys bounced back."

Perhaps this is the norm for the Trojans this season, who are still searching for a complete performance.

"We obviously helped them by not performing well early," USC coach Lane Kiffin said. "But at the end of the day, as you go through your season and your team builds itself, those things are good.

"You don't like them at the time, but if you can rally from that as we did and not go in the tank and not start pointing fingers and come back ... those are some good things."

Ironically, the players' sorely missed in USC's loss to Stanford each struggled against Utah. Center Khaled Holmes botched two snaps in the first three minutes that led to Utah touchdowns while kicker Andre Heidari missed two field goals in the second half.

Holmes apologized to the team after the game.

"I was not angry at Khaled," said Barkley, who is known to criticize teammates during games. "He's my best friend."

Wide receiver Marqise Lee's never struggled, however, and his 83-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Matt Barkley sealed the victory with 12:10 left. Lee caught the pass and then stopped and let a defender run past him before easing into the end zone.

"In my mind, I was thinking I didn't want to run down the field all this way and get tackled," Lee said. "You want to have the big plays like that but it doesn't matter if we win."

It was the longest pass play in Barkley and Lee's college careers. Some might wonder why the Trojans are not completing more explosive plays like that this season.

"We've been a little bit off on those," Kiffin said.

Barkley completed 23 of 30 passes for 303 yards and three touchdowns. Lee caught 12 passes for 192 yards and one touchdown.

"I think this showed the character of the team and the fight," Barkley said. "(This was my best performance) of the year, I think."

The Trojans (4-1, 2-1) put the game away when cornerback Nickell Robey intercepted his first pass of the season and went 38 yards for a touchdown to give USC a 38-21 lead with 9:30 remaining. That overcame the bad taste of one of the worst starts in recent memory.

Holmes experienced a disastrous start. Holmes rolled a shotgun snap to Barkley, who picked it up but was stripped of the ball by defensive end Nate Fakahafua, who ran eight yards for a touchdown.

On the next possession, Holmes' snap never reached Barkley and Utah defensive tackle Star Lotulelei recovered at the Trojans' 13-yard line. Wide receiver Kenneth Scott caught an 11-yard touchdown from Hays to give the Utes (2-3, 0-2) a 14-0 lead just 2:45 into the game.

"I felt really calm," Kiffin said. "And I felt like our team was and our coaches were. I felt we did a better job as a staff today handling negative plays than we did last time on the road (against Stanford)."

The Utes also had a touchdown called back on a thrilling reverse play where Hays lined up at wide receiver and took a pitch before throwing a 44-yard touchdown pass. But the play was nullified because of an ineligible receiver downfield.

USC's defense again proved to be the Trojans' dominant unit. Robey forced a fumble and made seven tackles in addition to his interception. Defensive end Morgan Breslin (five tackles) applied the pressure to Hays that forced Robey's interception.

The scene at the end of the game was reminiscent of road games in the Pete Carroll era, when a team goal was to clear the stadium of fans before the conclusion. Rice-Eccles Stadium was less than half full in the final minutes.